Lift door



Dec. 2,1, 1937. F. DITCHFIELD LIFT DOOR Filed May 31, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1` Dec. 21, 1937.

F. DlTcHFlELD 2,103,000

LIFT DooR Filed May 51. 1955 2W- n P/4 v lo.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v a, ff

i www Patented Dec. 21, 1931 This invention` sliding lift doors,

Frank Ditchileld,

The Younlltown Cleveland, Ohio. assigner -to Steel Door Company, (leveland, Ghio, a corporation orohio l Application May 31, 1935, Serial No. 24,225 17 Claims. (.Cl. 20-22) particularly for railway house cars, and is concerned primarily with' the lifting mechanism forsuch doors.

5 While sliding been known generally `for a lift doors for railway cars have number of years, it

was not until recently that intensive development has produced a type of lift mercially' acceptable.

doors which is com.- This class of doors is so l0' designated because in one position. thereof, the

lowered position, they engage and establish frictional relationship with a supporting track to prevent. or at least retard, movement of the door when the car is subjected to impact. Ease of movement ofthe door on its track is, however,

-essential when'it is desired to move the door relative to the u trols.

i rollers and in' track to the rollers opening in the car which it con- At such time the door is supported `upon the transfer of the door from the the door is lifted above the track to break the frictional relationship therewith. This lifting of the door is eiected by mechanism generally denoted as lifting mechanism.

i... Lifting mechanism for mounted upon the doors is usually the doors. The best known and commercially adopted form of such mechanism embodies rollers mounted upon the doors adjacent to the lower corners thereof.

ing is obtained Their mountby means of roller housings within which the rollers .are secured by pins fixed in said housings.

Each of the housings is provided with trunnions journaled in the door and in a bracket secured to the door and covering the housings. Th

e housings are secured together for simultaneous rotation about the rollers which rest upon the track as fulcrums, such rotation being imparted to one of said housings by means engxslged therewith. place about the housing trunnions as the hous- 'Ihe lifting of the doors takes ings are` rotated.

Ease -of movement of the door upon the rollers depends upon the accurate disposal of the rollers in a vertical plane parallel to the door. disposal in turn depends-upon the accurate align-4 ment of the bearings y Misalignment of thesebearings will re-y nions.

This

for the roller housing 'trunsuit in positioning of the rollers at an angle to the door effecting a consequent impeded movement of the door.

Various attempts proper bearing alignment.

are. being ma'de to insure It has been proposed to eliminate the bearing in the door entirely and to coniine both bearings for the trunnions of the r oller housing in the brackets. In

relates to improvements in mechanism so designed anism, the construction of nates the roller. housings.

carrying out this proposal the bracket has been -formed with separate front and back portions A further object is to provide brackets of integral construction in which rollers of lift mechanismj are secured and in which the requisite bearings shall be provided.

A further'object-is to provide lift mechanism constructed to embody units containing integral is eliminated :to the end brackets and rollers assembled therewith whereby such units may be secured to the door subsequent to the assembly of the rollers in the brackets. v

A further object is to provide lift mechanism eliminating roller housings and having brackets with which rollers are assembled by pins journaled in said brackets.

A further object is to provide lift mechanism. for sliding 1. car doors embodying rollers having eccentrically mounted inner portions and outer rims concentric with and capable of rotation relative to said inner portions.

A further object is to provide lift mechanism for sliding car doors embodying rollers having eccentrically mounted inner portions, outer rims and anti-friction means disposed between the inner portions of the rollers and the rims.

A further object is to provide lift mechanism for sliding car doors embodying brackets which receive rollers mountedin the brackets by pins insertable in -bearings formed in the brackets from the outside of said brackets, the pins being maintained against accidental loss by the actuating member ofthe lift mechanism which is engaged withan end of a-pin projecting beyond a bracket. l

A further object is to provide a lift mechanism for sliding doors embodying rollers formed of extending'eccentrlcally through the inner portions of the rollers so that the pins are capable of rotation during the lifting of the door 4to- 55 gether with the inner portions of the rollers and remain substantially stationary during the sliding movement of the doors upnfthe outer portions of the rollers.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description of the instant invention proof Figure 1.

, relative to the track.

"I'he track 20 may take the form of an anglev Figure i is an enlarged detail of the left-hand bracket and the lift mechanism', the cover portion of the bracket being removed to more clearly illustrate the remainder of the construction.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 5 5 of Figure l.

.Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken on line -S of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral'll designates a sliding car door illustrated for the purpose of describing the instant invention in detail. AThe door selected for this purpose is a. metallic door and embodies a sheet metal panel H formed with horizontally extending corrugations i2 which may merge at their ends into vertical corrugations I3 and i4, as indicated at I5. Obviously the invention is not limited to the illustrated door but is applicable, as wellto any type of sliding door.

The vertical and upper margins of the door I0 may be reinforced in any desired manner and by any suitable means. At its lower margin the door is preferably reinforced by means of an angle member i6, the vertical leg I1 of which is secured to the door and the horizontal leg i8 of which extends horizontally outwardly. The horizontal leg I8 is adapted to frictionally engage the tread' i9 of a track 20 in order to prevent or at least retard undesired sliding movement of the door member arranged with the leg I9 which lserves as I the tread of the track in a horizontal positionand the ieg 2| extending vertically downwardly therefrom. The track is secured to the side sill 22 of a car underframe by means of brackets 23.

lso

The tread I9 of the track is secured to Aa horilzontal outwardly extending leg 24 of each bracket by means of rivets 25. The brackets 23 are secured to the side sill by means of rivets 25 extending through a vertical leg 21 oi the brackets and In order to slide the door upon the track 25 to expose-the opening inthe car controlled by the door and tov effect sliding movement with ease, the lift.' mechanism of the instant invention is utilized. 'I'his lift mechanism comprises rollers `25, one of which is disposed preferably adjacent tion this antifriction means comprises a cage 3|- within-which balls 32 are disposed. The-'balls 32 areseated within grooved raceways provided in to the door, the pin 4I extends outwardly beyond the cage and in the periphery of the inner portions of the rollers.

In order to mount each roller upon the door a bracket member, preferably in the form of an integral casting, is utilized. 'I'he bracket member 33 employed in connection with the roller dis-` posed adjacent the forward lower corner of the door includes an attaching flange 34 provided on three sides of the bracket, an outer wall 35 and an inner wall 36. The outer wail 35 is disposed in spaced relationship to the inner wall 36, as clearly indicated in Figures 3 and 5 of the drawings,

and in this space a roller is received. The inner.

wall 35, which is connected with the outer wall 35 by means of flanges 31 and 38, is of less depth than the outer wall, this depth being sufficient to provide a bearing 39. An aligned bearing is provided inthe outer wall 35. A pin 4i is journaled in these bearings, this pin extending eccenvtrlcally through the inner portion 29\of the roller in order to mount the roller inv the bracket. The

eccentric relationship between the pin 4I and the inner portion 29 of the roller is indicated at 42. For the purpose of confining the inner portion 29 of the roller for rotation with the pin, the intermediate portion 43 of the pin is non-circular in section, this portion of the pin being illustrated in Figures 3 and 5 of the drawings as substantially rectangular in section. The bore of the inner portion of the roller conforms to the section of the intermediate portion of the pin.

The roller disposed adjacent the rear lowerI corner of the door is mounted upon the door by means of a bracket 44 preferably in the form of an integral casting. The bracket 44 comprises an attaching ange 45 extending from three sides of the casting. The bracket is provided with an outer wall 45 and an inner wall 41 spaced from the outer wall by means of flanges 43 and 49, thereby providing a space for the reception of the roller 28. The relative proportion between the outer and inner walls 46 and 41 is preferably the same as indicated for the outer and inner walls 35 and 35 of the bracket 33. Aligned bearings 50 and conforms to the bore provided in the inner portion 29 of the roller through which the pin extends eccentrically, as indicated at 54. The inner portion 29 of the roller is thus confined to rotate with the pin.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that upon rotation of the -inner 'portions of the rollers a lifting force will be exerted upon the brackets,`which force will be transmitted to the' 60 door inasmuch as the brackets are fastened thereto. In order to impart rotation to the inner portions of therollers'and consequent elevating force the outer wall '35 of the bracket 33 a. sufficient distance to permit an operating member 55 to be mounted upon the pin. The operating member 55 is provided with a handle portion 56 at its upper end and at its lower end with a substantially cylindrical portion 51 having an inwardly extending recess 53 defined-by means of parallel sides 59 and 55. The operating member 55 isadapted-to be slid upon the outer end of the pin 4I and to insure rotation of the pin when the member 55 is by means of a rod 55 having openings in the ends. thereof through which studs 68 and 51, formed on the bars 63 and 64, extend. .It will be apparent, therefore, that asv pin 4i and the corresponding inner portion of a roller is rotated by means of the operating member 55, this rotation will simultaneously be imparted to the pin and the corresponding inner portion of the roller mounted thereon.

It will be observed from Figures 3 and 5 of the drawings that the pin 4I includes an outer cylindrical portion, an intermediate portion noncircular in section havingthe same diameter as the outer cylindrical portion and an inner cylindrical portion which may be ofless diameter than the remaining portions of the pin. The pin Il is assembled with the bracket 33 by insertion into the bearing 'portions I! `and lll formed in the outer andl inner walls 35 and 3i of the bracket from the outside of the outer wall. After assemblyof the pin with the bracket means is provided whereby accidental loss of the pin is prevented. For the attainment of this end the operating member 55 is utilized. 'I'he cylindrical portion 51 of thel operating member is pro- "vided with flanges es and es disposed on opposite sides of the recess 58 provided in said cylindrical portion. The operating'member Il, when it is slid upon the outer cylindrical portion of the pin 4I, is disposed in abutting engagement with a shoulder formed on said cylindrical portion. The flanges 68-and 69 of the operating member 55 are received behind flanges 1I and 12 directed toward each other and provided on the 4outer wall 35 of the bracket and disposed in spaced relationship to said outer wall. In'view of this construction it will be apparent that after initial assembly of the pin, the bracketand the operating member, accidental-loss of the pin is obviated. The pin cannot move outwardly relative to the operating member by reason. ofthe engagement of the shoulder 'l0 formed thereon f and the cylindrical portion 5'! ofthe operating member. The operating member l5 is maintained against utwai'ddisplacement relative to the outer wall of the casting 'by reason of the interlocking engagement between the flanges provided thereon 4and the flanges formed on vsaid outer wall.l Consequently, it is impossible for the pin to slide outwardly through the bearing formed in the outer wall.

It has been stated hereinbefore that the outer portion 30 of each of the rollers 2| is disposed in engagement with the track 20. To obtain this I engagement the horizontal leg Il of Athe reinforcing angle I6 is coped, `as indicated at Il and 1l.

when ii is desired `io moveA the` door iorrom its lowered and closed position,illustrated in Figure l of the drawings, to an openv posltion,. the handle 56 of the operating member Il isgrasped and pulled downwardly.y The downward movementof the operating member. im-

ooo

parts rotation to the pin u and by virtue or the Y connection between this pin and pin 52 simultaneous rotation is imparted to the latter pin. The rotation of the pins ll and 52, -by reasonl of their association with the inner portions of the rollers 2l, imparts rotation to these inne;` portions. By'reason of the relationship of the pins to the inner portions, these inner portions constitute eecentrics operating within the outer portions of the rollers and, hence, the rotation of the inner portions o f the rollers effects lifting of the door so as to break the 'frictional engagement of the angle member I6 with the track and support the door upon the rollers. The door may then be slid in the direction of opening movement and durlng'this sliding movement the pins and the inner portions of the rollers will remain substantially fixed, the outer portions of the rollers rotating about the inner portions. Ease of. this sliding movement is obtained by the antifriction bearings interposed between the in-Q ner and outer portions of the rollers. Uponrelease of the operating member 55 the `door will at once gravitate into frictional engagement with l the track. lmiring the sliding movement of the door 'relative to the track thel door is guided and maintainedagainst outward displacement from the track by means of hook members l5 and 'Ii which are formed preferably as integral parts of the outer walls l5 and 46 and overlap the depending leg 2l of the track.

The rollers 28 have been described ashaving inner and outer portions between which is disposed a cage provided with antifriction bearings. 'Ihe instant invention, however, is not limited to this structure of roller inasmuch as it is obvious that the cage itselfv may serve as the outer. portion of the roller, or the outer portion of the roller may be' formed so as to provide anintegral cage. l

It will, thus, be-seen that the objects herein-l before enumerated are attained by the instant invention. Roller housings heretofore utilized inlift mechanism havel been completely obviated whereby the lift mechanism of the invention is greatly simplied. 'Ihe construction of the invention', moreover, is such that the pins and rollersmay be accurately assembled in their brackets which may subsequently be applied as units to the door. In this way proper disposition of the rollers relative to the door is insured and aneasy moving door is obtained.

`It will be apparent that numerous changes and modications of the details of the instant invention may be resorted to .by those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, intended to comprehend all -such changes and modifications within the purview of the invention, which is to bev limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In lift mechanism for a slidable vcar door,

brackets secured adjacent the vertical margins of said door, each bracket being integrally formed and comprising frontwall and a spaced rear y roller, each pin having an intermediate non-circular portion, each roller having an inner 'portion provided with a bore conforming to said intermediate portionl of the pin and an outer por-` tion rotatable relative to said inner portion, an-

" tifriction means disposed between said portions of each roller, means engaging one of ,said pins for imparting rotation thereto and to an inner roller portion and means mounted upon said intermediate portions of said pins and connected together for imparting simultaneous rotation to said otherpin and inner roller portion to lift said door.

2. A unit structure for lift mechanism lfonia sliding car door comprising a bracket member having spaced front and rear walls, a roller disposed between said walls, said roller comprising inner and outer portions rotatable relative to each other, said inner portion havingan eccentric non-circular bore and a pin journaled insaid walls having an intermediate portion-conforming to and extending through said.: bore.

3. A unit structure for lift mechanism for a sliding car door comprising va bracket member having integrally formed spaced front and rear walls, a roller disposed between said walls, said roller'comprising inner and outer portions rotatable relative to each other, said inner portion having an eccentric non-circular bore and a piny -journaled in said walls having an intermediate portion conforming to and extending through' said bore. f

4. `A unit structure for lift mechanism for a sliding car door comprising a bracket member having spaced front and rear walls, a roller dis'- posed between said walls, said roller comprising inner and outer vertically aligned portions rotatable relative to each other, a pin journaled in said walls extending eccentrically through said inner portion, said inner portion being mountedv sliding car door comprising a bracket member having integrally formed spaced front and rear walls. a. roller disposed between said walls, said roller comprising inner and outer vertically aligned cylindrical portions, said outer portion being rotatable about, said inner portion, antifriction means positioned between said portions, a pin journaled in said bracket walls extending eccentrically through said inner portion, said latter portion being constrained to rotate with said pin.

7. Lift mechanism for a car door comprising a roller for elevating and supporting said door for sliding movement in elevated position', said roller embodying inner and outer rotatably related portions, said inner portion being disposed within said outer portion, and a pin journaled on said door extending eccentrically through 'said innerl portion,v said latter portion being strained to rotate with said pin.

8. Lift mechanism for a car doom comprising spaced rollers, each of said rollers having inner and outerrotatably related portions, said inner portion being received within said outer portion, a pin journaled on said door extending eccentrically through said inner portion, said pins and their corresponding inner roller portions being constrained-to rotate together, actuating means engaging one of said pins, saidinner portions voli' said rollers being associated for simultaneous movement, said means being actuated to rotate said inner portions to elevate said door, said outer portions rotating about said inner portions to permit sliding movement of said door.

9. Lift mechanism for a car door comprising spaced rollers, each of said rollers having inner and outer rotatably related portions, a bracket of said pins to rotate said inner portionto elevate said door, said one pin being insertable through the corresponding inner portion of a roller'from the outside of the bracket forsaid roller, said inner portions being associated for simultaneous movement, said actuating means preventing dlse'ngagement of said one pin from the inner portion of said roller, said outer portions of the rollers rotating about said inner portions to permit sliding movement of said door.

10. Lift mechanism for a car door comprising spaced rollers, each of said rollers havinginner and outer rotatably related portions., a bracket for each. roller secured to said door, a pin journaled in each bracket and extending eccentrically thfrough' the inner portion of each roller, each inner portion being constrained for rotation with its pin, actuating means engaging one of said pinsI .to'rotate said inner portion .to elevate said door, said one pin being insertable through the corresponding inner portion of a roller from the outside of the bracket for said roller, a shoulder on said one pin adjacent its outer end, said'meansabutting said shouldena flange provided on said bracket disposed in overlapping relationship to said means, said inner portions being associated for simultaneous movement, said outer portions ings in said walls, a roller for each bracket received between said walls; each roller comprising inner and outer rotatably related portions, a pin for each roller extending eccentrically through and 'rotatable with said inner portion, said pins being journaled in said wall bearings, one of said pins be'ing inserted in said bearings through the front wall of a bracket, a member engaging said one pin which extends outwardly of said front wall for imparting rotation to said pin, a shoulder provided on said pin, said member abutting said shoulder. said wall iianges overlapping said member to prevent loss of said pin and means constraining said inner portions of said rollers to simultaneous rotation.

1.2. Lift mechanism for a car door comprising spaced rollers, each ofsaid rollers having inner and outer rotatably related portions, said inner portions being received within said outer portions, a pin for each roller journaled on.said door and extending eccentrically through an inner portion,

prising spaced rolling means, each of said means embodying an .inner member and an' annular outer member surrounding saidv inner member andbeing concentric with the circumference ot said inner member. said annular member being rotatable about said inner member, a pin Journaled on said door and extending eccentricaliy through said inner member, said pinI and said inner member being constrained to rotate together and means for imparting ,rotation .to said inner members.

1 14. In a railway house car having a sliding door and a`door track, spaced pins Journaled upon said door, a .member yeccentrically mounted upon each pin for rotation therewith. a collar rotatably surrounding each member, said collars engaging said track andmeans for imparting simultaneous rotation to said members to elevate said door, said collars .rotating around said 4Tmembers and` upon said track v to. permit sliding' movement of 'said door. l v

15. Inv a railwaymhouse car having v,a sliding door and 'a door track, spaced shafts carried by said door, membersl eccentrically mounted upon A said shafts forrotation therewith. the periphery ot saidmembersfbeing circular, collars rotatablyf' surrounding saidA members and bein! concentric i with the periphery thereof, said collars engaging said track. means fixed upon said shafts, a bar connecting'said means and a lever mounted upon y one ot said shafts.

' 16. In a railway house car having asliding door and `a door track, said door being frictionally seated upon saidtrack, eccentrica carried Aby said door in engagement with said track, means for simultaneously actuating said eccentrica to elevate said door above said track, said eccentrica supporting' said' door lupon said track during -ally seated upon said track, eccentrica carried by said door in'enazement with said track, each of said eccentrica comprising an inner disc. an outer collar and anti-frictionv bearing members disposed between said disc and said collar, means vfor simultaneouslyA actuating said eccentrics to ele- Y vate'said door above said track, saideccentrlcs supporting said door upon said track 'during-open-v ing and closing movements ofsaidf door.

` `FRANK Dn'cmmm. 

